Tributes are being paid to the playwright Harold Pinter today from both the theatrical and political worlds after his death from cancer, aged 78.

This evening, the London stage will see the first performance of one of the Nobel Prize-winning writer's works since his death, as a cast including Sir Michael Gambon, David Walliams and David Bradley perform No Man's Land at the Duke of York's theatre.

"I'm very honoured to have known him personally and professionally over the past 10 years. It's a huge loss," Bradley said.

"People from Germany, Israel and China would come backstage saying Harold Pinter was so important to them. He wrote about oppression and people taking terrible advantage and oppressing each other on a personal level.

"Although he did not write the plays in an overtly political way they stood the test of time because they have universal themes. They meant so much to people in different ways."

Gambon, a veteran performer of Pinter's plays, led tributes to him yesterday, describing him as "our God".

He told theguardian.com: "I had the privilege to know Harold well and was in many of his plays. I created a couple of parts for him in first productions. He was our God, Harold Pinter, for actors. He was the man who wrote the plays you wanted to be in."

One of the country's most celebrated playwrights, Pinter wrote more than 30 plays, including The Birthday Party and The Caretaker, as well as film scripts and directing work. He had been undergoing treatment for cancer for some time.

His second wife, Lady Antonia Fraser, said in a statement to the Guardian: "He was a great, and it was a privilege to live with him for over 33 years. He will never be forgotten."

Pinter had a number of awards bestowed on him during a long and distinguished career, including the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005. In its citation, the Nobel academy said Pinter was "generally seen as the foremost representative of British drama in the second half of the 20th century" and declared him to be an author "who in his plays uncovers the precipice under everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression's closed rooms".

Pinter was best known for his plays, including his 1960 breakthrough production The Caretaker, The Dumb Waiter and The Birthday Party. But he was also a screenwriter, actor and director and in recent years a vociferous campaigner against human rights abuses, including the occupation of Iraq by western armed forces. He joined other artists such as Blur and Ken Loach in sending a letter to Downing Street opposing the 2003 invasion.

Tony Benn, the former MP, called Pinter "a great playwright and a great figure on the political scene". He added: "His death will leave a huge gap that will be felt by the whole political spectrum."

The playwright Michael Frayn said: "He did two really wonderful things politically. He went to Turkey and protested against the arrest of the writers there. It's a very difficult thing to do: it takes a lot of moral courage to actually go to somebody's country and give them a blasting for their policies. The other thing was his Nobel acceptance speech, which was remarkable and had a huge impact."

Pinter's screenplays for film and television, included the 1981 movie The French Lieutenant's Woman based on John Fowles' novel. He also wrote the screenplay for The Comfort of Strangers (1989), adapted from Ian McEwan's novel, and adapted many of his own stage plays for radio and television.

He was awarded a CBE in 1966, the German Shakespeare Prize in 1970, the Austrian State Prize for European Literature in 1973 and the David Cohen British Literature Prize in 1995. He was also awarded a number of honorary degrees.

Pinter was born into a Jewish family in the London borough of Hackney. His grandparents had fled persecution in Poland and Odessa. He was attracted to acting from an early age and his political activism was evident when in 1948 he refused, as a conscientious objector, to do National Service.

After two spells at drama school he joined he joined Anew McMaster's Shakespearean Irish touring company in 1951 and wrote his first play, The Room, for Bristol University's recently established drama department in 1957. His agent said a private funeral would be held and a memorial service open to all.